Audio monitoring system and method of use

Abstract

A method includes receiving audible sound signals such as the cries of a baby via a microphone of a monitor, and processing the signals to identify whether a predetermined acoustic signature is present. An alert may be generated when the predetermined acoustic signature is present. An information data signal such as a discrete data packet quantifies how closely the sounds match the predetermined signature, and is transmitted to a remote device. The server may aggregate these data packets over time and calculate a variance between the aggregated data packets and a baseline. A report may be generated describing the sound signals and variance. A monitoring system having the monitor and a server are also disclosed.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 receiving sound signals via a microphone of a monitor; 
 processing the received sound signals using the monitor, including dividing each second of the received sound signals into a plurality of equal time segments or frames and identifying, for each frame independently of the other frames, whether a predetermined acoustic signature is present in the received sound signals; 
 generating, via the monitor, an information data signal in the form of a plurality of discrete data packets each of which quantifies how closely the received sound signals of a respective one of the frames match a predetermined acoustic signature over a calibrated interval, wherein each of the discrete data packets includes a plurality of descriptive data fields describing the received sound signals; 
 transmitting the information data signal from the monitor to a remote device; 
 receiving the transmitted information data signal via the remote device; 
 selectively generating an alert via the remote device when a calculated rolling average or percentage of the frames match the predetermined acoustic signature over the calibrated interval. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating an information data signal includes processing the received sound signals by applying a transformative downsampling process to the received sound signals to thereby generate a binary value for each of a plurality of frames in the interval. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 dividing the interval into a plurality of seconds; and 
 dividing each second into at least eight of the frames; 
 wherein processing the received sound signals includes separately analyzing, for each frame, how closely the sound signals match the predetermined acoustic signature. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 aggregating a plurality of the data packets over time; 
 comparing, via the remote device, a characteristic of the aggregated plurality of data packets with respect to a baseline; and 
 generating a report which describes the sound signal with respect to the baseline. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the monitor is a baby monitor configured to receive audible crying sounds of a baby as the sound signals, and wherein receiving sound signals via the microphone includes receiving the audible crying sounds. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving configuration data for the monitor from a user via a computing device in networked communication with the monitor. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating an information data signal includes calculating a level of energy associated within a magnitude spectrum of the received sound signals, and then determining if the calculated level of energy matches a pre-defined energy ratio pattern. 
     
     
       8. A monitoring system comprising:
 a monitor having:
 a microphone configured for receiving audible sound signals, wherein the monitor is in wireless communication with a server; 
 a first module configured for receiving the sound signals from the microphone, dividing each second of a calibrated interval of the received sound signals into a plurality of equal time segments or frames, and identifying over the calibrated interval whether a predetermined acoustic signature is present in each of the frames, respectively; and 
 a second module configured for generating and transmitting an information data signal in the form of a plurality of discrete data packets each quantifying how closely the received sound signals of a respective one of the frames match the predetermined acoustic signature over the calibrated interval, wherein each of the discrete data packets includes a plurality of descriptive data fields describing the received sound signals; and 
 
 a server in networked communication with the monitor, wherein the server is configured for receiving the plurality of the discrete data packets over time, and includes:
 a third module configured for generating an alert, when a calculated rolling average or percentage of the frames match the predetermined acoustic signature over the calibrated interval, describing when the predetermined acoustic signature is present in the discrete data packets over time; and 
 a fourth module configured for transmitting the alert to a computing device in networked communication with the server. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the monitor is configured to process the cries of a baby as the sound signals. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the monitor is configured for applying a transformative downsampling process to the received sound signals to thereby generate a binary value for each of a plurality of frames of the interval. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the monitor is configured for calculating energy ratios associated with each area which is harmonically related to the fundamental frequency within a magnitude spectrum, and for determining if the energy ratios match a pre-defined pattern. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the server is configured for:
 aggregating the frames over time; 
 comparing a pattern or characteristic of the aggregated frames to a baseline; and 
 generating a report which describes the sound signal with respect to the baseline. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the monitor is configured to identify and convert the frequency of a cepstral peak of the processed sound signals to a fundamental frequency as at least part of the processing of the sound signals. 
     
     
       14. A baby monitoring system comprising:
 a monitor having a microphone for receiving audible sound signals from a baby, wherein the monitor is in wireless communication with a server and is configured for:
 receiving the sound signals from the microphone; 
 dividing each second of the received sound signals into a plurality of equal time segments or frames; 
 quantifying, for each frame independently of the other frames, how closely the sound signals match the predetermined acoustic signature over a calibrated interval; and 
 transmitting an information data signal in the form of a discrete data packet providing information which describes how closely the sound signals match a predetermined acoustic signature over the interval; and 
 
 a server configured for:
 receiving and recording a plurality of the discrete data packets over time; and 
 selectively generating an alert as a function of the information in the plurality of discrete data packets when a calculated rolling average or percentage of the frames match the predetermined acoustic signature over the calibrated interval. 
 
 
     
     
       15. The baby monitoring system of  claim 14 , wherein the monitor is further configured for applying a transformative downsampling process to the received sound signals to generate a binary value for each of a plurality of frames of the interval. 
     
     
       16. The baby monitoring system of  claim 14 , wherein the server is configured for:
 aggregating the plurality of the data packets over time; 
 comparing the aggregated plurality of data packets to a baseline; and 
 generating a report which describes the sound signal with respect to the baseline. 
 
     
     
       17. The baby monitoring system of  claim 14 , wherein the monitor is configured for processing the sound signals using at least one of: a high pass filter, a low pass filter, a Fourier transform, a spectral line summation, a peak signature checker, and a power cepstrum. 
     
     
       18. The baby monitoring system of  claim 14 , wherein the monitor is configured for:
 calculating a magnitude spectrum and a power cepstrum for the received sound signals; 
 identifying and converting the frequency of a cepstral peak to a fundamental frequency; 
 calculating energy ratios associated with each area which is harmonically related to the fundamental frequency within the magnitude spectrum; and 
 determining if the energy ratios match a pre-defined pattern.